Syrian Army Reinforces Golan Border Amid Hezbollah Takeover

A Syrian army soldier holds a Syrian flag as he stands on a military vehicle in Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib. (Credit: Omar Sanadiki, Reuters).

The Syrian army reinforced two towns near the border of the Israeli Golan Heights yesterday with additional troops and tanks. No announcement was made by the Assad regime regarding the reason for the deployment, but agencies monitoring activities inside Syria have previously reported a concerted campaign by Lebanese Hezbollah to effectively take control of the Quneitra region, which sits in a strategic location near the tri-border crossings with Israel, Lebanon and Syria. Hezbollah played a key role in the Syrian regime's resurgence from the brink of collapse in 2012-14, and has been active in Western Syria ever since, along with its patrons in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), effectively co-opting Southwestern Syria from the regime in Damascus. The Israeli military has been reporting the IRGC and Hezbollah buildup near the Israeli border for months, warning that Iran and Hezbollah are preparing for an eventual invasion of Israel in the event of a broader conflict between Iran and Israel.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah's recent push to assert control over local populations and to conscript local young men is hugely unpopular in Southwestern Syria; considered the cradle of the Syrian Civil War. There have been reports that former Syrian rebel commanders, many of whom fled to Jordan after rebel forces surrendered in 2018, are now building another resistance movement against their foreign occupiers. This could explain the stepped-up presence of Syrian regular forces in the area yesterday. It appears that Iran and Hezbollah, not the Syrian government, are in control of Western Syria. From the Golan slopes in the Southwest, to the banks of the Euphrates in the Northeast, Syrian civilians are once again in harm's way due to the colonial and genocidal aspirations of the regime in Tehran. As one senior Iranian ayatollah said during his Friday sermon: "Today's Iran is not just Iran, It is not limited by geographical borders. Today, the PMU [milita] in Iraq is Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon is Iran, Ansar Allah in Yemen is Iran, the National Front in Syria is Iran, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine is Iran. They have all become Iran. Iran is no longer just us."

Shalom from Israel.

Sources:

https://www.jpost.com/…/Syrian-army-sends-reinforcements-to…

https://www.jpost.com/…/Israel-strikes-Quneitra-near-Syrian…

https://twitter.com/MEMRIReports/status/1175739847434211328…